Sensing Heavy Metals Using Mesoporous-Based Optical Chemical Sensors

Abstract

Heavy metal pollution is one of the more serious environmental problems; therefore, there is a constant demand for the development of new analytical tools for its monitoring. An optical chemical sensor represents a good alternative to classical instrumental methods. The mesoporous materials used in optical chemical sensors’ fabrications have properties such as high porosity, exceptional adsorption capacity, tuneable 3D shape, geometry, and morphology, which enable improved limit of detection, response time, and selectivity properties of optical sensors. In this review, we firstly present the properties of mesoporous materials, provide a brief description of sensing mechanisms, and briefly discuss the importance of continuous monitoring. Recent advances in those mesoporous silica-based optical sensors used for heavy metal detection have been reported and their advantages and limitations also discussed. This review covers publications that have appeared since 2008.